Cyndi Lauper Praises Lady Gaga at Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Cyndi Lauper may have had her high in the mid-80s but there’s no escaping her songs in pop culture today. From Glee to this week’s American Idol, her music still resonates. But what does the pop icon think of today’s biggest star, Lady Gaga? We caught up with the music icon and native New Yorker in a ribbon cutting ceremony where she unveiled her own Gray Line New York double-decker bus.

Cyndi chose to have the unveiling outside of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the spot where she did the line-up for her famous video, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Now with a reality show in the works and her Grammy-nominated album, Memphis Blues, this year might be the most fun she’s had since 1986!

OK!: Last night one of the girls on American Idol sang your song, “True Colors.”

Cyndi Lauper: Oh really? Because I was watching it and then I fell asleep.

OK!: What do you think about young artists choosing your song out of any song they could choose?

Cyndi: Well, it was one of those songs that was bigger than myself and I’m lucky that I’ve been able to sing songs that became bigger than myself because then the work because very important, less of a disposable art and more of an embracing, healing tone to music, which is what it really is.

OK! You have a reality show coming up that I hear you’re filming. What are we going to learn about you?

Cyndi: I don’t know because every time I think something’s going to happen, something new happens that you didn’t expect. That’s what life is I guess.

OK! You’re one of the biggest pop stars of your time and now you’ve become an icon. What do you think of the biggest pop star of today, Lady Gaga?

Cyndi: I think that she’s doing very well. I’m very happy for her. I think she’s done a lot of great stuff and I wish her a lot of luck. I think the new artists; the work hard. It’s the same like everybody. I’m glad to see that people care and are passionate about their work and she combines art and music. I always like that.

OK!: A lot of people will say that certain things she represents whether it’s style or art are derivative of what you started. What do you think of that?

Cyndi: Well, everything is derivative in the end, isn’t it? Nothing is really new. I think that she takes from Bowie, from me, from Grace Jones, from everybody. But hers is more like a sculpture. You know I think my favorite thing she did was when we did the amFAR benefit. It almost looked like a George Segal sculpture. I just loved that.

OK!: Do you mean in terms of fashion?

Cyndi: You see, she painted herself like a sculpture and then she performed so it was like a living sculpture. To me, living art like that is very interesting and inspiring. I kind of did that in my “I Drove All Night” video. That kind of thing is always exciting to me.